The present invention relates generally to telecommunications, and more particularly, to systems and methods for interconnecting a plurality of telecommunications systems, including mobile, home and office communications equipment.
Systems and methods for permitting communications between mobile telecommunications stations and a Local Area Network (LAN) or similar enterprise networks are known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,639 discusses a system to permit a remote user to maintain a xe2x80x9cvirtual presencexe2x80x9d at a corporate office. The remote user""s telephone behaves as an extension to a Private Branch Exchange (PBX), and the remote user has the ability to send and receive faxes and e-mail, access the Internet and maintain LAN connectivity substantially as if the user were present at the corporate office.
Support for end-to-end voice calls using the Internet as an alternative to traditional public switched telephone networks (PSTN) is also well known. Unlike the PSTN, which is circuit-switched, the Internet is packet-switched; communication on the Internet is accomplished by transmitting and receiving packets of xe2x80x9cdata.xe2x80x9d In addition to data, each packet contains an address to ensure that it is routed correctly. The format of these packets is defined by the Internet Protocol (IP). One type of allowable data is encoded, digitized voice. Thus, voice over IP (VOIP) is voice that is packetized as defined by IP, and communicated over the Internet for telephone-like communication. A service provider can off-load branch-office voice traffic from the PSTN and route it across the company""s existing data intranet, thereby eliminating toll charges. In addition, interoffice fax traffic can be routed across a company""s data network or through an extranet, using existing fax machines, key systems, Centrexes, and PBXs, making the process of placing calls over the IP network transparent to users.
Wireless networks are also well known. However, conventional wireless systems do not allow full feature transparency (i.e. xe2x80x9cvirtual presencexe2x80x9d) as one changes locations in the wireless network. Portable terminals must use wireless base stations and PBXs within a local coverage area. Present wireless systems also do not allow for restricted use of an IP network. Thus the grade of service for voice cannot be engineered to customer specified quality levels. Present systems and methods do not allow a home user, to travel outside a home coverage area and still make and receive calls as though the user were still in the home coverage area. Thus the features normally associated with a home user (e.g. originating calls to other parties using the correct originating caller line identification (CLID), preserving billing and restrictions information associated with the out-going call, preserving voice mail on the home system, and the like) are not preserved. Furthermore, present systems and methods do not enable the use of wireless networks to interconnect multiple voice and signaling systems with an IP network.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to use IP networks to allow multi-site roaming for mobile users.
Another object of this invention is to use IP networks for extending both the signaling information and the voice information from a home system location to a remote system location.
It is a further object of the present invention to use IP networks to enable a user at a remote location to appear as though they are making and receiving calls from their home location.
It is a further object of the present invention to preserve all of the features normally associated with a home user.
It is a further object of the present invention to use a wireless local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) to interconnect multiple voice and signaling systems with an IP network, thereby allowing for very rapid installation of a multi-site networked system.
It is also an object of the present invention to use common infrastructure to network wired and wireless terminals in this network.
It is also an object of the present invention to permit multiple systems to be networked together to form one very large mobility system.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, these and other objects may be accomplished by the present invention which allows wireless multi-site networking using signaling and voice-over-Internet-protocol. The invention includes a wireless portable terminal that can roam from a home coverage area to a remote coverage area. The invention also includes a home controller, having a home port thereon, that is configured to control home communication equipment within the home coverage area. The invention further includes a home wireless base station coupled to the home controller, configured to transmit and receive wireless communications.
The invention includes a remote controller, having a remote port thereon, configured to control remote communications equipment within a remote coverage area. A remote wireless base station may be coupled to the remote controller, and configured to transmit and receive wireless communications.
This invention also includes a computer network. A home signaling device may be electrically coupled to the home controller and the computer network, and configured to packetize signaling and voice data from the home controller and placing the packetized data on the computer network. In addition, a remote signaling device may be electrically coupled to the remote controller and the computer network. The remote signaling device is also configured to packetize signaling and voice data from the remote controller and placing the packetized data on the computer network.
The wireless portable terminal is assigned a home directory number representing its home port on the home controller for routing communications to the wireless portable terminal to home communications equipment at the home location. The wireless portable terminal may also be assigned a registry number for registering the wireless portable terminal with the home controller when the wireless portable terminal is located in the home coverage area, and with the remote controller when the wireless portable terminal is located in the remote coverage area. Thus the wireless portable terminal is allowed to roam between the home location and the remote location using either the home wireless base station or the remote wireless base station, with the ability to make or receive calls via the home directory number.
Another embodiment of the present invention includes configuring a home controller having a home port thereon, to control home communication equipment within a home coverage area. This embodiment further includes configuring a home wireless base station coupled to the home controller, to transmit and receive wireless communications.
The embodiment also includes configuring a remote controller having a remote port thereon, to control remote communications equipment within a remote coverage area. It also includes configuring a remote wireless base station coupled to the remote controller, to transmit and receive wireless communications.
This embodiment also includes configuring a home signaling device electrically coupled to the home controller and the computer network, to packetize signaling and voice data from the home controller and placing the packetized data on the computer network.
This embodiment further includes configuring a remote signaling device electrically coupled to the remote controller and the computer network, to packetize signaling and voice data from the remote controller and placing the packetized data on a computer network. It also includes assigning a home directory number representing the home port on the home controller for routing communications from the wireless portable terminal to the home communications equipment at the home location. In addition, this embodiment includes assigning a registry number to the portable terminal for registering the wireless portable terminal with the home controller when the wireless portable terminal is located in the home coverage area, and for registering the wireless portable terminal with the remote controller when the wireless portable terminal is located in the remote coverage area. Thus, the wireless portable terminal is allowed to roam between the home location and the remote location using the home wireless base station and the remote wireless base station, with the ability to make and receive calls via said home directory number.
Another embodiment of this invention includes a home controller device having a home port thereon, for controlling a plurality of home communication equipment within a home coverage area. A home wireless base station device can be coupled to the home controller device, for transmitting and receiving wireless communications. This embodiment also includes a remote controller device having a remote port thereon, for controlling remote communications equipment within a remote coverage area. It further includes a remote wireless base station device coupled to the remote controller device, for transmitting and receiving wireless communications. A home signaling device is electrically coupled to the home controller device and the computer network, for packetizing signaling and voice data from the home controller device and placing the packetized data on the computer network. In addition this embodiment includes a remote signaling device electrically coupled to the remote controller device and the computer network, for packetizing signaling and voice data from the remote controller device and placing the packetized data on the computer network.
A device for assigning a home directory number, representing the home port on the home controller device, is also included, for routing communications from the wireless portable terminal to the home communications equipment at the home location. A device for assigning a registry number, to the portable terminal means, for registering the wireless portable terminal with the home controller device when the wireless portable terminal is located in the home coverage area, and for registering the wireless portable terminal with the remote controller device when the wireless portable terminal is located in the remote coverage area is also included. Thus, the wireless portable terminal is allowed to roam between the home location and the remote location using the home wireless base station device and the remote wireless base station device, with the ability to make and receive calls via the home directory number.